


The Living Daylights

by cfkenobi



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, the incredible bat-buddies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-14
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-02-17 07:36:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2301701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cfkenobi/pseuds/cfkenobi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>High School AU. Slow burn Swan Queen. Regina Mills has always been a lonely person: the only things she has are her books and her very active imagination. That is, until she meets Emma Swan, who intends to give her everything she never had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kate Kane

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys. This is my first attempt at a OUAT story and English is not my first language, so I apologize for any mistakes. Let me know what you think?  
> Also: The rating will probably change when the time comes.

. . . . . . . . . .

 

If there was one thing Emma liked about Spanish classes, it was the silence.  
Every single soul there present had a major crush on the teacher. They didn’t understand very much of what was being said – and it was particularly hard to concentrate after you’ve seen her face –, but she could always get everybody’s attention without even trying to. She was a very beautiful woman: olive skin, long, dark curls, a curvy body, all that jazz. But the thing is, Emma couldn’t care less if she tried.

She had lived with a Spanish family before, and after 7 months of persistence, they had successfully taught Emma how to properly speak the language. Now, even with the presence of the very attractive brunette before her, Emma couldn’t take her eyes off a much, much better scene: The one developing on her comic book.

She kept reading it until her eyes almost jumped out of her head: Batwoman had broken up with Maggie.  
Emma screamed outrageously and threw the book across the room, cursing loudly. 

The whole class stared at her, some muttering, some rolling their eyes at her and some still waking up from their teacher-induced coma. She blushed furiously, running after her comic book and hugging it tightly against her body, muttering apologies under her breath and blaming Batwoman for the mess she had made of her life. The occupants of the class went back to whatever they were doing, probably too used to her weirdness to even care at this point, and she went back to her seat.  
Emma ended up meeting curious brown eyes across the room, and the girl averted her eyes almost immediately, but she could still feel the girl’s eyes on her every once in a while. The owner of those eyes was a petite brunette, in black leggings and a white blouse, plump lips and blushing cheeks. Regina Mills.

“Hi,” Emma mouthed when she caught the girl looking at her again.  
Regina averted her eyes and went back to the class, half listening and half nervously eyeing the blonde again.  
Emma would always wave and scrunch her face in some funny way, just so she could see the brunette stifle her laughter and try to ignore her. 

. . . . . . . . . .

 

The rest of the day went by smoothly; She sat with Ruby, David and MM at lunch, on their usual place on the grass, chatting and laughing at silly things, until curiosity got the better of Emma. 

“Hey Rubes,” She started, trying to sound casual, “What do you know about Mills?”

Behind her, she could still listen to David imitating the TARDIS noise, and MM’s loud laughter.

“Mills?” Ruby said, scrunching her face thoughtfully. “Regina?”

“Yeah.”

“Not much, I think? Just that she’s a big nerd, she’s always at the diner and that her mother passed away a few years ago.”

“Yeah, I remember that.” 

Ruby eyed Emma curiously and munched on her hot-dog, managing to say a muffled “Why?”

“Uh, it’s nothing.” Emma scratched her neck uncomfortably. “I was curious. I don’t see her around very often.”

“She’s always at the library. Belle says she spends all of her free time there, don’t think she has a lot of friends.”

Emma hummed her agreement and grabbed her backpack, standing up. 

“I’m gonna go now. Talk to you guys later, k?” She said, already sprinting off and to the library.

When se got there, she could see the only occupied table, with a beautiful, petite form there, drawing furiously and slipping her glasses back up her nose. 

“Hey.” 

The brunette jumped at the voice and immediately blushed furiously, hiding the drawing she was working on under the table. 

“I’m sorry.” Emma said sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s okay,” Regina murmured, offering her hand. “Regina Mills.”

Emma accepted and shook her hand, smiling. 

“Emma Swan.”

She hears a small chuckle and looks at Regina questionably, and Regina just chuckles harder and pushes her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “You can let go of my hand any time now, Emma.”

And so Emma did, blushing a little and laughing. She gestured to the chair next to the brunette.  
“Can I?”

Regina nodded. 

They stared at each other a little and blushed, at loss of words. Emma couldn’t believe how she thought this was a good idea if she didn’t even have a plan. She jush stood there, watching Regina and gaping like a fish.

“So...”

Both of them started at the same time. They laughed again, and Emma gestured to Regina, so she started.

“I’ve noticed you like Batwoman.”

“Yes.” Emma smiled like she’d just seen a unicorn. “She’s ruined my whole life these past few days.”

“Been there, done that...” Regina said, laughing softly.

“Wait, really?!” The blonde exclaimed, overly excited. “I’d never guess.” 

“Yes,” Regina agreed. “Although I’m a bit more subtle than you. You were practically yelling and Ms. Gonzalez didn’t seem very happy about it.”

“Yeah, yeah, she can kiss my ass,” Emma declared, too happy to have found a buddy to talk about superheroes to care, “Kate Kane is more important.”

“Indeed,” Regina said, amused.

“Can I see that?” Emma pointed to Regina’s lap.

“Uh....” 

“Please?”

Regina paused for a moment, then sighed. To hell with this. She handed Emma the paper and grimaced, preparing herself for the river of insults.

It never came.

“...Wow.” Emma whistled. It was a drawing of a woman with strong, high cheekbones and long hair. It was half finished and it was completely gorgeous. “This is gorgeous.”

Regina blushed, grinning shyly. “Thank you.”

The bell rang, and they rushed to collect Regina’s material, going towards their lockers together. When they got to Regina’s, Emma handed her her books and said, almost shyly,

“I’d like to be your friend.”

Regina grinned widely, stuffing her books in her locker and fixing her long, dark ponytail. “I’d really like that too.”

They smiled to themselves again and departed.

It was going to be a long day.

. . . . . . . . . .

 

“Rubaaaae!” Emma shouted, angrily looking through the mess she made of her bedroom and increasing her frown. “RU-BY!”

She was getting desperate.

“RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-“

“WHAT, EMMA?” Ruby shouted back.

“Have you seen my sketchbook?”

“Which one?”

“The purple one,”

“WHAAAAT?”

“The purple one!”

“Isn’t it in your wardrobe?”

“WHAT?”

Ruby appeared in the room, angrily making her way to the wardrobe and increasing her voice with every word.

“IN. YOUR. WAR-“ 

She was cut off by Granny, who appeared in the doorway with her arms crossed and a enormous frown on her face. 

“Ruby Talia Lucas, you will lower you voice or so help me...”

The blonde and the brunette smiled sheepishly, muttering apologies to their guardian and going back to their previous discussion.

“It’s always here, Ems,” She said, handing the blonde her sketchbook, who immediately squished the object in her arms.

“You haven’t touched this one in a while,” The brunette observed, smiling a bit. “It’s my favourite.” 

“Mine too.” Emma confessed. She bit her lip and said, “I want to show it to someone. Think they’d like it.”

Ruby eyed Emma curiously but said nothing. In all three years she’s been living with the blonde, Emma had always been very secluded, especially with her drawings. Ruby herself had waited a year to be allowed to see it, and even now, she couldn’t touch it without Emma freaking out and slapping her hands away.

“Mmm. Let’s go to the diner, your someone might be there and Granny needs help.” 

An hour of grumpy costumers and a equally grumpy Granny later, Emma spotted a very nerdy, very shy brunette entering the diner.

“Hi,” Emma said when she got to her table. “Are you ordering anything?”

“Just a strawberry milkshake, please.” 

Emma wrote her order and gave it to Ruby, gesturing to Regina and giving the wolf-like girl her puppy-dog eyes. 

“Go,” She said, smiling. She handed Emma her sketchbook. 

She thanked the brunette and awkwardly stood by Regina, alternating her weight in one foot and the other.

“Can I sit with you?”

“Yes.” Regina replied.  
When she was comfortable enough, Emma put the sketchbook on the table and said,

“I’d like to show something to you. It’s not nearly as gorgeous as yours, of course, because wow... yours was just.... wow. But it is, uh, hopefully a bit good? I mean, I’d really really like if you’d see it,” She stammered, smiling shyly. “But if you don’t, it’s uh fine...”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Regina laughed. “I’d like to see it too.” She added. “Is that a sketchbook?”

“Yeah.” She moved to Regina’s side and opened her book slowly, feeling a bit shy. 

She started to show Regina her sketches, blushing when she ‘wooed’ and laughing when the brunette would simply gape with an amazed look on her face.

“Emma, this is so beautiful,” She murmured, caressing the paper and contorning some lines of the drawing with her fingers. “You are so, so talented.”

The brunette searched for something in her purse and after a while, she put a very colourful, big sketchbook on the table.

“This is mine. Do you wish to see it?” 

Emma nodded, her smile so big it looked like it was swallowing her face. 

“That’d be great.”


	2. The White Knight And The Scarecrows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A ride, a gang and a surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Thank you so much for the feedback, it means a lot. Still the same: English isn't my first language so please tell me if there is anything strange. Feel free to suggest anything and/or talk to me on my tumblr (trust-me-i-am-a-jedi). I may be shy but I'm a nice bud, I swear it.
> 
> Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing but my ideas.
> 
> Let me know what you think?
> 
> Enjoy!

. . . . . . . . . .

“SHIT, SHIT, SHIT!” Ruby shouted, looking at the alarm. 

“SHIT, EMMA, WAKE UP!” She shouted again as she threw a pillow at Emma, and the blonde just wrinkled her nose in her sleep, clearly unaffected. 

The brunette sighed and stood up, stealing her pillows and covers, and this time there was a response.

“No…” Emma sleepily protested. “Gimme dat back, Ru-bae…”

“Get up, you moron! We’re late! Class will start in exactly,” She looked at the clock and ran to the bathroom, “Twenty minutes.”

The blonde’s eyes immediately widened and she grabbed her clothes, running to Granny’s bathroom to shower.

Thirteen minutes later, she discovered that Ruby was already gone, so she had to go to school by bike. She groaned and started to ride her bike as fast as her sleepy legs allowed, her blonde curls slapping her equally sleepy face once in a while and having to slow down to push her glasses up.

When she saw a nerdy brunette trying to carry at least ten books on her tiny hands and make a ponytail at the same time, she chuckled softly and came to a stop.

“Hi, Bat-buddy,” She said, grinning. “Want a ride?”

The brunette jumped and everything fell on the floor, making her huff and scrunch her face adorably. Emma helped her to pick her things up and pointed to her bike.

“Oh, Emma!” She smiled. “Yes, please.”

“Hop on my amazing limo, milady,” Emma said, bowing.

Regina laughed a bit and nodded with a curtsey. “Thank you, my lord and saviour.”

Emma kept grinning like a fool and got on her bike. As soon as she felt Regina behind her, she positioned her backpack on her shoulder and half of Regina’s books in one of her arms, spending the rest of their way to school hoping that she wouldn’t drop any of the brunette’s things. 

She helped Regina to her locker, curiously glancing at the mountain of books and wondering why the brunette would need so many books today. The bell rang and she started running to her class, waving at Regina and shouting “Bye,‘Gina!” 

Then, she remembered something.

“Oh, and Bat-buddy?” 

“Yes?” Regina shouted back with a giggle.

“Do you want to have lunch with my gang and I?”

“Your gang?” The brunette bit her lip to keep from laughing. 

“Yeah.” Emma said proudly. “We’re also known as ‘The White Knight And The Scarecrows’.”

“OH MY GODS, EMMA!” Regina shouted and cracked up, standing against the lockers to keep from falling, tears leaking from her eyes. “...What does that even have to do with anything,” She put her hands on her stomach to control the pain. “I can’t... I can’t breathe...”

Emma recovered first but kept a goofy smile painted on her face, waiting for Regina to stop laughing. 

“It’s hella rad, I know.” She wiggled her eyebrows.

The chocolate-eyed girl nodded and squished her lips together.

“So... Will you?” The blonde asked tentatively. “Have lunch with us, I mean.” She clarified. 

“Your friends won’t mind?” Regina said, cleaning her tear-stained cheeks.

“Oh, no,” Emma reassured. “They’ll like you. You’ll see.” Then, she grinned a bit, using the sentence they liked to use with each other. “And I’d really like it if you did.”

At this point, Regina’s face was aching with the number of times she was smiling since she’d seen the blonde girl, and she found she didn’t mind it. She didn’t mind it at all. She could practically feel her blood flowing through her veins with the excitement of having Emma with her, to finally have someone to talk to, to finally understand what the pure sense of happiness felt like.

“Well, in that case...” Regina smiled. “I’d really like it too.”

They smiled a bit at each other.

The moment was cut off by the principal, who suddenly appeared on the corridor shooing them away.

Emma was drowning in pure giddiness and the promise of a new friendship filled her.

Her gang was indeed going to love her Bat-buddy.

 

. . . . . . . . . .

 

“Hi, guys,” Emma said, sitting down on their usual spot and pulling Regina with her. “I want you to meet someone.” She looked at Regina’s shy smile and grinned. “This is Bat-buddy. Bat-buddy, this is my gang.”

All of them waved and smiled a bit, and then David asked,

“And does Bat-buddy have a name?”

“I’m Regina.” She shyly murmured, looking at Emma and drawing closer to her.

“Hi, Regina.” They said.

After that, it was like they were long lost friends. They completely loved her buddy. In fact, they loved her so much Emma couldn’t even talk to her without someone butting in. 

It was somehow comforting to know that Regina was being welcome, to know that all of them could be friends. 

 

. . . . . . . . . .

 

“OH MY FUCKING GOD, REGINA, OF COURSE SUPERMAN IS BETTER THAN HIM!” MM shouted.

Somehow, they always, always ended up like this. 

“ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND, WOMAN?!”

Emma laughed out loud. 

She started to watch Regina interact with her friends, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips at the sight of the shy brunette throwing her head back and hitting it against a tree, her quiet curses and her - now their - friends laughing very loudly. 

Brown met green and Emma gave the brunette a thumbs up then pointed to her big, cheesy monster burger, mouthing “Want some?” 

Regina grimaced exaggeratedly and shuddered. She pointed to her apple and smiled brightly, biting it and humming aloud to prove her point.

Both of them giggled a bit and went back to their respective conversations.

 

. . . . . . . . . .

 

Exactly two years ago, she was adopted by Granny. 

Emma couldn’t believe how good it felt to finally have a family to call her own. She had spent almost 16 years of her life bouncing here and there, being left out, being utterly alone. She had never met anyone who cared about her, at least anyone who didn’t expect to have something in return. She had never, ever had a friend. She had never been loved. 

Not until the day she met Granny and Ruby and her friends. Granny was very strict since the beginning but with time, she found she wouldn't change anything; Ruby and her had taken care of Emma as if she were family since the beginning, and for the first time she really, really knew what it was like to feel safe. She found out that under all that scrict face and words, her guardian cared deeply for her. And, well, under nothing -because Ruby was glued to Emma's side since day one and couldn't hide anything from her- Ruby and her gang simply welcomed her like she belonged there all along. And they didn’t judge her nor wanted anything exceptional from her; just her company. Her presence.

So when she entered the diner and saw the giant poster with shouting red capital letters saying “HAPPY SECOND YEAR, EMMA” and “WE LOVE YOU” and all of her friends there, all of the people she cared and cared for her, she couldn’t hold back her tears.

She felt so very special and so, so very loved. She felt arms around her, she heard calming words and whispers, and she felt everything. 

It felt so good to be home.


	3. Gummy Bears

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, lovelies. I hope you like this chapter, and let me know what you think if you feel like it. All mistakes are my own. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing but my ideas.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

 

 ** _“Don’t forget me.”_**

There was a pause. 

**_“I won’t remember anything else.”_ **

Emma’s lips started to quiver and she sobbed quietly on her pillow, clutching it tightly against her chest. She stared at the teary-eyed brunette by her side and chuckled a bit, starting to move closer.

The two women on the movie parted their ways and Emma sighed loudly, resting her head on Ruby’s lap.

“I hate this movie.” The blonde said as she felt hands slipping through her hair. 

“You freaking love it, Emma. We’ve seen it three times today.” Ruby laughed.

“I hate it.” 

“Yeah, yeah, you always say that.” The brunette mumbled. She started to braid the blonde’s soft locks, her eyes glued on the screen, when she heard a small murmur.

“Did you guys like Regina?”

Ruby nodded, absentmindly combing her fingers through the braid she had made and successfully destroying it. “Yeah, sis. She’s cool. Why?”

“Would you mind if she’d come to the movie night with us? Do you think our gang would mind?” She stared at her sister and held her breath. 

“Not at all, sis.”

“Thanks.” She whispered, nuzzling her pillow and directing her attention back to the movie. A few minutes later, she said, almost like it was a mistake she said it out loud,

“I don’t think she had many friends in her life.” She paused and picked at the ends of her messy hair, lowering her voice. “I wish people would see more of her, Ruby. She’s so funny, I swear it. I should’ve talked to her sooner; She must’ve been alone for so long.”

“It’s okay, Ems. She’s got us now. We won’t leave her any time soon. She’ll be okay with us.” Ruby reassured and went back to combing her green-eyed sister’s hair. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

Ruby was sleeping soundly next to her on their bedroom, but she couldn’t sleep. She had tossed and turned and made a hot chocolate for herself, but she just couldn’t fall asleep. 

So what she did was, she scrolled through her contacts and texted her new buddy. 

**Hi.**

She closed her eyes and waited for the answer. A short while after, she received it.

 _Hi, Emma._

She smiled. Regina was awake.

 **I can’t sleep.**

_Me neither._

**What do you do when you can’t sleep?**

_I read or draw._

**That’s it?**

_Sometimes I sing._

Emma laughed a bit at that. Regina was adorable. She thought it was somewhat strange for someone to lull themself to sleep, as the usual – at least in childhood – is that parentes and relatives in general sing for their children. She herself had never had the priviledge, but she could remember a few of her childhood friends telling her how their mothers’ voice was beautiful, and how their voice, or simply their presence could scare the scariest monsters away.

She made a mental note to sing to her child, if she ever had one. 

**Do you really?**

_Don’t laugh too loud, Emma. I like to sing; it makes me sleepy._

**Weirdo.**

_Shut up._

**Why didn’t you sing today?**

_I did._

**Why didn’t it make you sleepy today?**

_I don’t know. Why can’t you sleep?_

**I don’t know. What are you doing tomorrow night?**

_I don’t know._

***slap* Stop that.**

_Moron. I’ll do nothing, why?_

**We’ll have a movie night tomorrow. It’s tradition. We watch a bunch of movies, eat a lot of trash and have a sleepover. Come with us.**

There was a pause, ten or so minutes, and she thought Regina had fallen asleep. The beep on her phone said otherwise.

_I really don’t want to intrude._

**You won’t, Bat-buddy. Please come.**

Silence.

_Okay._

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

 

The next day, she sat next to Regina. It was a history class, and both of them were reading comics under their table.

She heard Regina cover her mouth with her hands to stop herself from laughing, her eyes getting smaller with every second.

“What?” Emma whispered.

She pointed to her comic and laughed a little louder, receiving the stink eye from the teacher.

“Sorry,” She mouthed, biting her lip.

“Good old Batman, I see.” The blonde murmured, inspectioning the object on her buddy’s lap. “Where is your stuff for today?”

The shy girl pointed to her Marvel backpack and adjusted her glasses, giving Emma a thumbs up. Emma flashed her a grin.

“Did you bring any movies?”

“Yeah.” She grabbed her backpack and started to pick some movies, putting them on their table to receive Emma’s scrutinizing look. 

“Ooh, Batman...” She said, awed. She looked through all kinds of superhero movies Regina had brought with sparkling eyes.

“I knew you’d like it.” Emma’s Bat-buddy proudly whispered.

“This is perfect, ‘Gina. Did you bring any food?” 

“Of course I did, Emma. What do you take me for?” She further explored her backpack and then threw it at Emma.

The blonde sticked her head in her backpack and found that Regina was prepared for the end of the world. She grabbed a bag of Gummy Bears and Regina stole it.

“Later,” She whispered.

“But I’m hungry!” Emma whispered back, pouting and giving Regina her puppy-eyed look.

“Stop that witchcraft, woman.” Regina chastised. She looked away, afraid to give in to her friend’s sorcery.

“Please, ‘Gina...” 

“No.” She kept her eyes tightly closed for a while. When she had gathered enough courage, she opened one eye, taking a peek at the still pouty blonde beside her.

She sighed, giving in. “Fine, fine,” 

She gave the bag to Emma. The blonde smiled and kissed the brunette’s cheek, causing the chocolate-eyed girl to blush wildly.

“I’ll keep the red ones,” Emma declared. “And the blue ones.”

Regina huffed; Now that was to push her luck entirely.

“The red ones are mine, Emma.”

“But they’re my favourite!” She whined.

The teacher gave them a warning look, and they went back to whispering.

“Mine.” Regina proved her point by popping a lot of red Gummy Bears in her mouth and chewing happily on them, ignoring the blonde’s death stare.

“Well, we can make a deal. Let’s negotiate, shall we? Let’s split them in half; You can have their head-“

The image of Emma ripping parts of the gummy bears’ bodies and rearranging them in different gummy bears’ bodies with an evil glint on her eyes was too much for her. Regina had to bite her lip to the point of blood to keep from laughing too loud, and at this point she was shaking violently, tears streaming down her face and shaking her head in denial. 

“They’re mine, doctor Frankenstein. Go get your green and blue stuff.” 

“Gimme...” She whispered, her pout almost inhuman.

“...No.”

. . . . . . . . . . . .

“All set?” 

Emma said, looking at her friends. Ruby and Belle, who were sharing earphones, nodded. M&M, who was trying to attract a squirrel with a few pieces of food nodded too. Regina, who was climbing down a tree and fussing with her backpack’s contents, nodded too. 

“Let’s go, gang.”

They started walking home when she realized something.

“Bat-buddy, you don’t have a gang name.” 

“Well, neither do they.” She pointed to their friends. 

“They do,” Emma said. “Ruby is Wolf, M&M is Snow White, Belle is Beast. And I’m White Knight, as you are well aware.”

Regina laughed and nudged Emma playfully. “You’re doctor Frankenstein for me. I’m still a bit horrified to be honest.” She added a somewhat disturbed look on her face to emphasize her point.

Emma sticked her tongue out and nudged Regina back.

“Pick your gang name, ‘Gina. But it has to be awesome.”

“Yeah,” Regina laughed again, pursing her lips in thought.

“Pick a fairytale name. We all did.” Emma suggested.

“What do you think of Maleficent?”

Emma choked on her saliva and shook her head. “Uh, no... There was, uh...” She pressed her lips together, trying to make some very painful memories go away. “Someone in our gang that we used to call Maleficent. I’m sure you’d like a name just for you...?”

Regina frowned at her reaction but said nothing. They continued walking.

When they finally got to the diner, Regina proudly declared, a shy smile on her face,

“The Evil Queen.”


	4. The Sound Of Music

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, lovelies.  
> First of all: This chapter is a bit bigger than usual and I sincerely hope you like it! So, this chapter was supposed to be a bit different, and I had posted it with a few different scenes on ffnet, but it just didn’t feel right to me... So I’ve made a few changes. Also: I’m deleting my story there and will keep it only here.  
> All mistakes are my own.  
> DISCLAIMER: Nothing belongs to me.

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

“Cheetos?”

“Check.”

“Pepsi?”

“Check.”

“Beer?”

“Check.”

“Pop tarts, cupcakes, chocolate, gummy bears?”

“Check, check, check and uh... No. We’re out, remember?”

Emma sighed loudly and nodded. Regina just rolled her eyes affectionately while looking over the blonde’s shoulder at the list. 

Emma looked at her friend's floral dress and red Chuck’s, her black glasses giving her an even nerdier look, and smiled. Sometimes she just couldn’t help it but notice that Regina was the most gorgeous woman she had ever seen and she felt so lucky to have her friend with her, for having such an exquesite creature near her. She was positively certain that when people started to notice Regina, _really_ notice her, they’d be jealous.

 _My buddy_ , she proudly announced in her head. _Mine._

Just in time, Regina met her eyes and grinned, as if she knew what Emma was thinking.

She blushed a bit at the thought. _God, I hope she’s not reading my mind right now,_ she thought. _But if you are, I totally meant what I was thinking... But I did not plan on it to sound to possessive._

She blushed even more, but Regina didn’t seem to notice. She was looking at the list again.

“We’re good, Emma. We won’t eat half of these things, I honestly don’t comprehend why you think we need so much food.”

Belle appeared with Ruby trailing close behind her, both of them with a huge pile of movies in their hands. Belle almost dropped everything she had with her, but M&M went to help her.

“Are we good?” Ruby asked. She looked at what they had made of the room: the floor was covered with pillows and blankets, a pile of movies by the big TV, food and speakers everywhere. 

Emma lay down and all of them did the same. The girls spilled the movies in front of them and started picking the first movie of the night.

“I vote for Batman.” Emma said as she snuggled on the pillows and put her hoodie on, the huge Pikachu ears on it making the blonde appear to be a five year old.

“I’m with Emma.” Regina agreed and laughed at her friend’s hoodie.

“I vote for The Notebook.” Belle piped up, looking under her lashes at Ruby, who blushed slightly and nodded.

“I say we should just watch Singing In The Rain...” M&M flashed them a smile.

“Don’t you even start with your musical shit, Mary Margaret...” Ruby disapprovingly said.

“EXCUSE ME?!” She shouted and held her hand over her heart. 

_Oh my god_ , Emma thought. _Here we go._

“ROCK-SCISSOR-PAPER. Come on. Ain’t nobody got time for this shit.” Emma exasperatedly said. 

As it turns out, M&M is unexpectedly good at Rock-scissor-paper, and they had to watch it. 

Well, kind of watch it.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

“We’re singing in the rain...” Emma sang in a whisper, rocking her head from side to side and tapping her fingers on the pillow. She started humming with the song until she spotted Regina looking at her. “What?” She asked, an adorable blush covering her whole face and neck.

“I didn’t know you like musicals,” Regina whispered back. 

“To be honest...” Emma murmured, “I kind of love them.”

The brunette eyed Emma curiously and turned to her, quickly glancing behind her to see if anyone had noticed their whispers. They hadn’t. 

“Really? I would never guess.”

“Yeah...” Emma whispered. “When I was little I bounced around a lot, you know? I wouldn’t last much with anyone, and I kept coming back to the Foster Care.” She sighed and averted her eyes. “I was a lonely kid. Always were. But on the group home, we had three movies: Singing In The Rain, The Little Mermaid and The Sound Of Music.”

The brunette continued looking at Emma, not daring to bat a lash. These moments they had every once in a while, these... _chances_ she had of getting to know Emma were proving themselves to be very important, and it was amazing how much the blonde had been through and still managed to be so utterly happy, and captivating, and just so... Emma. She had never had any friends – if you put Elise, her spider plush toy aside – but even so, even knowing so little of people as she did, she realized how strong her friend was. 

She was proud of her. She knew that Emma had endured a very big amount of pain. 

_Pain_ , she practically spat the word in her head.

Of pain, she understood.

In every sense of the word.

“Just these three?” She finally murmured.

“Yeah. You see, ‘Gina, we were very poor; I had nothing to do and our group home had nothing besides these movies and I used to watch at least one of them a day. They were kind of... my friends, so to speak,” She started to feel her vision blur and closed her eyes. Now was not the time to do this. It was clear that this was still a sore subject for her, but she liked it how Regina’s eyes would sparkle when she learned something new about her. 

It was worth it. 

She carefully opened her eyes and laughed a bit, sniffing. She proudly admitted, “I know all of the musics by heart.”

The brunette smiled so brightly that Emma swore she could light up the whole room. “Me too.” She said, and they laughed together. “I never had any friends either, Emma. I had... A little more than you in matters of financial support, so it allowed me to have a lot of movies and books. And a few spider stuffed toys,” she added with a smile. “But not friends. Not... not until you.”

They smiled to themselves and Regina rested her head on the blonde’s shoulder. Shortly after, she heard a soft voice above her sing in a whisper,

_“I'm singing in the rain_  
 _Just singing in the rain_  
 _What a glorious feeling_  
 _I'm happy again_  
 _I'm laughing at clouds_  
 _So dark up above...”_

She looked up and understood the importance of what had happened - the importance of what they had shared. The silly little look on the blonde’s eyes coupled with her adorably desastrous voice also made her understand that Emma wanted to light up the mood in the silliest way possible. 

She smiled to herself. The blonde was truly a goofball.

“And what kind of kid likes spiders anyways?” She muttered.

Regina punched her shoulder playfully and inched closer to her, trying to find a better position for her head on Emma’s bony shoulder.

“They’re just misunderstood, Emma. Your reaction is incredibly typical.” She rolled her eyes and poked her buddy’s belly. 

“You just don’t understand their _exoticness._ ”

Emma laughed.

“If by exoticness you mean too many legs and weirdly colored fur with an equally weird texture, then sure,” 

Regina’s poking fingers on Emma’s belly turned on five fingers and she curled all five of them, trying to imitate the shape of a spider. She started to run her spider-y hand through the blonde’s belly, and adopted a very serious frown as she stilled her fingers.

“Oh no, Emma.”

At Regina’s terrified whisper, the emeral-eyed girl leaned closer and said, “What’s wrong, ‘Gina?”

Regina’s frown grew and Emma mimicked it.

She was a bit concerned.

“You shouldn’t have said that.” She went back to moving her hand and the frown turned onto an evil smirk as her other hand joined its twin. “I think you’ve just made Spiderzilla very, very angry.” She pointedly looked at her hand- no, Spiderzilla- and had to scrunch her face to not laugh at the silly name and Emma’s slow realization. “Now we’ll have to get rid of you.” 

“...No...” Emma whispered.

But Regina was more than ready. She attacked her friend’s thin frame with her magic spider-y hands with all she had, finding Emma’s most sensitive spots with an incredible ease. The blonde was extremely ticklish and with their loud laughter and Emma’s incessant screams, they started a tickle fight.

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

 

By midnight, they had seen 6 movies. Two of them were Batman movies, and Emma and Regina made a quote battle that ended up on both of them being yelled at. They had eaten so much chocolate that Regina doubted she would be able to even look at the thing ever again without being sick.

So Ruby declared they would play Truth or Dare, and Emma could already feel that she would regret this in five or less minutes.

“So, this is how this is going to work: Once you’ve chosen it, you can’t back down.” She pointedly looked at M&M, who nodded seriously. 

She spun the bottle and it landed on Mary Margaret and herself.  
Ruby smirked.

“So, Mary Margaret...” She mischievously said and took a long swig of her beer. “Truth or Dare?”

The pixie-haired brunette bit her lip thoughtfully and sighed. “Truth! No, wait... Dare!”

“Too late.” Ruby declared. “So, have you and David did it already?”

“WHAT?” M&M shouted, horrified.

 _I regret already_ , Emma thought, sipping her beer. 

Belle slapped Ruby across her head and muttered curses in other languages, while Regina held her lips tightly pressed, trying to suppress her laughter.

“What?!” Ruby said innocently. “She’s our friend, guys. I think she could tell us this kind of stuff, you know.”

“You save this questions for later, you idiot. She’s not even drunk yet.” Belle interjected.

“Yeah, everybody knows M&M always reveals her dirty little mind when she’s got some alcohol working on her head.” Emma agreed. Regina snorted by her side, shaking with silent laughter.

“I hate you.” M&M said to all of them. She blushed a little and shook her head in denial. “But no, we haven’t. We almost did it... once, but we haven’t done it.”

Ruby looked at her suspiciously but nodded and spun the bottle again. Belle and Regina.

“Truth or dare?” Belle asked.

Regina’s eyes widened slightly. Well, what now? She had never played this game. She knew the basics, of course; she just didn’t know how far she’d have to go.

“Truth.” The chocolate-eyed girl said.

“Take it easy on her,” Emma said and pointed a warning finger to Belle, who just smirked and nodded silently. 

“Have you ever kissed someone?” Belle asked. 

Regina nodded, but Belle knew better.

“I mean... On the mouth.” She said.

Regina blushed. 

“I haven’t.” She admitted shyly, shaking her head in denial. 

“Fuck, really, Regina?” Ruby said. Belle looked pleased at herself for being able to figure it out before everyone, but Emma and M&M were just as impressed as Ruby.

“Yes...” Regina’s blush was increasing more and more, and Emma worried she might combust at any time. “Why is it so hard to believe?”

“Because you’re gorgeous,” Emma simply said and twisted her hands on her lap.

Regina looked like she was about to pass out; she was as red as her Chuck’s. She grinned.

They spun the bottle again, and this time, it stopped on Ruby and Emma. Emma knew, she just _knew_ that what Ruby had in mind wouldn’t be any good.

“Truth or dare, miss Emma Swan?” 

Emma sighed. “Dare.”

If there was anything like the Cheshire cat in human form, it’d be Ruby at that time. Emma recognized the expression as her “I’ll-destroy-your-life-and-everything-you-hold-dear” face.

“Kiss Regina.” 

For some reason, she just so fucking knew Ruby would say this. And that’s exactly why she gave herself a pat on the back for the way Ruby asked it; she underestimated Emma too much.

So Emma simply leaned in, - just in time to see Regina’s eyes getting so wide they may pop out of her head -, and pecked her buddy’s red cheek, letting her lips linger a little. She could smell Regina’s apple and peppermint scent, and it was almost a relaxing scent now. It was completely Regina. 

Emma pulled away with a self-satisfied smirk plastered on her face.

“Be a little more specific next time, sis.” She simply said.

The blonde looked at Regina out of the corner of her eye and winked at her. 

“You little shit,” Ruby muttered.

All of them laughed loudly.

. . . . . . . . . . . .


	5. Dana, the wild beast

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, lovelies! I'm so sorry for taking so long to update, real life is a nightmare right now. I will update it again very soon to make it up to you (also because this is a shitty chapter), and it'll be a big and better chapter than this one.   
> Enjoy!  
> I own nothing but my mistakes and my own ideas.

It started with Granny asking her to wash the van.

Well, not really _asking_ , more like threatening to steal all of her comics if she didn’t. She hadn’t got many things done because of them and she also had spilled a hot chocolate into a costumer’s lap while distracted. Granny’s hatred for Harley Quinn was understandable.

She put her headphones on, selected her favourite A-ha songs, grabbed a bucket, soap and a sponge and set to work.

She couldn’t, for the life of her, understand how she ended up dancing in the middle of the parking lot, using her soapy sponge as a microphone, and the bucket as a dance partner. But she did.

That’s probably why she hadn’t seen her tiny bat-buddy right behind her – and because she jumped like a terrified cat when Regina poked her.

And _that’s_ how the tiny brunette ended up dripping wet. The soap on her glasses blocked Emma’s view of her eyes, but she could almost _feel_ Regina’s killer eagle-like eyes narrowing until it only formed a thin line of pure rage. Emma took her earphones off and sheepishly put it inside the van, closing the door and coming face-to-face with her buddy. 

Regina took her glasses off and tossed them in her bag, throwing it behind her. She pushed her victim forward trapped her between her body and the van, then poked at her chest.

“You bloody moron!” She said. Some bubbles started to pop on her head and other few were circling the air between them, and Emma had to close her eyes for a second not to laugh at the whole thing.

“I’m sorry, ‘Gina,” The blonde said. She started to comb Regina’s hair with her fingers and with every second, Regina’s eyes would disappear more and more, now forming a thin line of irritation. She pinched Emma’s belly and as the blonde shouted “Ow!” and crawled away, the brunette grabbed the bucket.

She went to the little tap at the end of the parking lot and filled the bucket. As she started to walk back, Emma gasped.

“Oh, gods, ‘Gina, please don’t... It’s ice cold... ‘Gina, please...” The blonde’s hands were placed in front of her body and she started to back away, but it was too late. Regina was determinated. When she started to turn, the brunette threw the water at her. 

Her smirk was so big it might split her mouth in two and turn her into The Joker. 

Emma shrieked and jumped up and down with a horrified expression on her face. 

“You little shit! I didn’t do that on purpose, you... you evil thing!” 

But Regina was already shaking with laughter, hugging her belly and her soaking wet clothes clinging to her body like a lifeline. Her red shorts and Captain America t-shirt made Emma smile.

She started to carefully approach her archenemy, an evil smirk playing on her lips. She ignored the cold that started to wrap around her body as much as she could and stood before Regina.

“Oh, so you think this is funny, huh?” Emma murmured. Regina looked at her and nodded, laughing even harder as Emma picked her up, putting her on the hood of the van. The blonde started to dance her fingers on Regina’s sides, watching her friend’s face very closely to see where she was the most responsive. When she finally found Regina’s spot, she had her squirmind in less than a minute, and they were laughing so loudly that if Emma looked at Granny’s she’d see a couple of pairs of curious eyes watching them.

After some time, they calmed down. Regina was still breathing with some difficulty, but at least she wasn’t being tortured anymore. 

Emma was a bit cold, she noticed. Her body was still soaked to the bone and her soft blonde curls were a mess. She started giggling when she saw that there were tiny droplets of water dripping down Emma’s eyelids, and after a more thorough research, she discovered that every once in a while, little drops fell down the blonde’s defined chin as well. 

Her eyes followed a certain drop, and she immediately regretted it. Emma’s tight, white tank top was clutching at her well-defined midsection, and due to the cold, she assumed, her nipples were hard and showing through the thin material. 

She stopped laughing.

She didn’t know what was it that made her simply _stare_ at her friend’s chest, but she did. And she apparently did for a bit of a long time, because Emma noticed it, if the deep breath she let go of was anything to go by. At that, she raised her eyes.

They stared at each other for some time until Emma shook her head, as if she was dismissing a discussion she was having with herself, and put Regina down. She caressed Regina’s arms and, for _another unknown_ reason, her skin responded to that. The touch gave her chills, and the little hairs on her body stood up at that, and she just _couldn’t_ stop staring at her friend’s emerald eyes.

That woke Emma up. She wrapped her arms around Regina and started to guide her to the Inn, apologizing for leaving the brunette cold for so long and not meeting her eyes during the rest of the morning.

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

 

 _E? Are you asleep?_

Regina put her phone on the nightstand and sighed. She turned to the huge ball of fur at the foot of her bed and started to speak, 

“Why do you think Emma is mad at me, Dana?” 

The grey bundle wiggled her ears to indicate that she was listening to Regina’s rant.

“She wouldn’t even look at me. I can’t think of a single reason why she’d be _this_ mad. I did stare at her a bit... but it was very fast and it wasn’t on purpose. I didn’t mean to make her uncomfortable, D.” She sighed loudly and sinked deeper into her bed, hiding her face with her hands. “I screwed up, Dana-banana. I managed to screw our friendship up in three weeks.” 

She groaned.

Soon, she felt a little head caressing her stomach. She grabbed her huge, grey ball of fur and hugged it, enjoying the way the soft fur tickled her face.

Dana Fairbanks, her pirate cat –literally. She found baby Dana on the streets with a deep injury in one of her eyes, and they had to take it off- started to fuss in her lap and decided she had enough of hugging. She circled the brunette’s lap a few times and settled in it. Regina started to scratch her cat’s ears, enjoying the soft purr it provoked.

Her phone buzzed.

**Hi.**

_Where are you?_

**Diner. Why?**

_Come over?_

**Can’t right now, Regina. It’s my shift.**

_Please?_

**Can’t, Gina. Wish I could.**

_There’s pizza and hot chocolate. Tell Granny I have the flu. I really need you._

She waited for Emma’s response for a couple of minutes.

 **I’m on my way.**

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

“Regina!” Her father shouted from downstairs. “Emma’s here!”

“Send her up, daddy!” She made a shell with her hands and shouted back as Dana narrowed her little yellow eyes at her and crawled out of her lap.

A blonde head appeared in her doorway and the slim body of her friend soon followed. She closed the door and stood there, a sheepish smile on her lips, her hands stuffed deep in her back pockets.

“Regina, I... mmphh!” 

Her sentence has interrupted by a strong little body wrapping itself on her. She slowly wrapped her own arms around Regina’s warm frame, the scent of apples as intoxicating as the body pressed against hers. The brunette’s hands fisted around Emma’s red leather jacket, pulling her closer still, and snuggling her head on Emma’s shoulder.

“You jerk,” She mumbled.

“I’m sorry, bat-buddy,” She whispered back, tightening her arms around Regina. “I shouldn’t have treated you like that. I have these... moods. I’m so sorry.”

“Dwon’ you dwer doo dat vurr gain.” She murmured against Emma’s shoulder.

Emma’s face scrunched up and she desintangled herself from her buddy’s koala grip. “What?”

“Don’t you dare do that ever again, idiot,” She warningly said and picked Dana up, putting the cat directly in front of Emma’s line of vision. “Do you see that? Dana is not amused. Do you wish to face this monster?”

Emma looked at the narrow-eyed cat and shivered. Dana raised her paw as if to touch Emma, and the blonde backed away, raising her own hands in surrender. The cat just started to slowly lick her raised paw in a nonchalant manner, but Emma could feel the beast’s feral nature.

“No, thank you,” She said a little too loudly.

Regina pressed a kiss to the top of her grey monster’s little head and put her down. She studied Emma’s face and tilted her head to the side, asking,

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah, ‘Gina. I was just in a mood, that’s all,” The smile she flashed at Regina had something strange in it, but she couldn’t quite put a finger on it. 

Emma was lying, but she knew better than to question it. Her friend wouldn’t lie if she hadn’t a good reason, so this time, she let it go. Maybe she’d feel comfortable enough later and tell Regina what on earth was wrong.

“Do you want pizza, hot chocolate and a Star Wars marathon, E?” 

Emma’s forest-green eyes brightened instantly. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”


	6. Of dancing and cats

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, dears. So, the thing is: I think this is the last chapter before the plot starts to develop, and I think you guys won't be entirely happy with it. But, well...  
> We'll see.  
> Mistakes and ideas are the only things I own here.  
> Let me know what you think?  
> Enjoy!

The alarm went off.

A very loud groan came from next to her and she smiled knowingly, rubbing her eyes for a little bit. She decided to spare her friend a few minutes of sleepy time and got up, going straight to the bathroom and tiptoeing a bit due to the coldness of the floor. 

She pulled her short hair into a simple ponytail, cursing the few strainds of hair that escaped it, and tried to banish the sleep off her face with the ice cold water her bathroom provided.

She turned the radio on and started to feel her body accept the fact that it wasn’t having her bed again any time soon, trying to sing along while brushing her teeth,

_“I solve my problems and I see the light_  
 _We got a lovin' thing, we gotta feed it right_  
 _There ain't no danger we can go to far_  
 _We start believing now that we can be who we are...”_

She started to shake her head and to jump around her bathroom, her toothbrush hanging between her teeth.

“Grease is the word!” She sang loudly as she tried to keep brushing her teeth, not having stopped moving for a second. 

_“They think our love is just a growing pain_  
 _Why don't they understand, It's just a crying shame_  
 _Their lips are lying only real is real_  
 _We stop the fight right now, we got to be what feel_  
 _Grease is the word,”_

Soon it was almost impossible to sing so she just started to hum as enthusiastically as she could, and she rushed the process of washing her mouth as she saw the chorus coming,

_“Grease is the word_  
 _Is the word that you heard_  
 _It's got groove it's got meaning_  
 _Grease is the time, is the place is the motion_  
 _Grease is the way we are feeling,”_

She was rudely interrupted by a blonde that could be easily mistaken for a domestic lion clad in an Captain American onesie and pretending to play – _infuriatingly play, must she add_ \- an imaginary trumpet that went along with the song. 

At least, she assumed it was a trumpet. 

The noises Emma was making suggested it was a hyena on her monthly bleed, but if she wanted it to be a trumpet, so be it.

“Dios mio,” Regina breathed. “We are not on High School Musical, Emma, this is just _rude._ ”

Emma simply dropped her imaginary trumpet and came closer to Regina, a sleepy smile playing on her lips. 

“May I have this dance, milady?” The blonde chivalrously asked, maintaning her pose with a hand on her own back and offering the other to Regina.

Regina nodded, very serious. She took Emma’s hand in hers and wrapped her free arm round the blonde’s neck. In return, Emma shyly pulled them together by Regina’s hips, fisting her large pajamas, and carefully letting some space between their bodies.

They started to move along almost automatically, as if their bodies knew their own rhythm, or the lack thereof. Smiles were exchanged as the blonde spun Regina around, and Emma took a firm grip on her friend’s hips, colliding their bodies together. 

Regina blushed slightly at the abrupt gesture, but relaxed in Emma’s arms with a subtle pulling of her, now two, arms around her shoulders. Emma smiled and nodded once, not leaving her character for a single moment.

Regina heard a murmur next to her right ear.

“Good morning, milady.”

She returned in kind. “Good morning, my lord.”

The blonde responded by leaning in and whispering,

“It’s milady, actually,” The corners of her mouth were quivering a little bit, and that was when she barket out a loud laughter. She pecked Regina’s cheek and smiled wildly, reluctantly untangling herself from her bat-buddy’s warm body, and started to look around the bathroom for the spare toothbrush.

Regina went back into the bedroom and spoke a little louder,

“What do you want to wear, E?”

Emma appeared in the doorway. “Can’t I just go in your onesie? It’s so comfy.” She whined, wrinkling her eyebrows.

The brunette just raised an eyebrow and shook her head in denial. 

Her only response was a loud groan.

“Fine, fine. Let’s see what you’ve got there.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

“I know, I know, Gran... I KNOW... I was at Regina’s, I told you that... I’m sorry Gran, I’m so sorry! Well, YES, I didn’t tell you I was staying there but where else would I be?”

The gang looked at the exasperated blonde and each one of them started to murmur or gesture about how honestly screwed Emma was.

Mary Margared just giggled behind her hands as David mouthed a _“you’re so fucked, Emma,”_. Ruby and Belle were pretending to be Granny and Emma, and the former pretended to be strangling her girlfriend, only to pull her closer and kiss her squarely on the lips. 

“I don’t think that Emma would kiss Granny like that, though,” David, with all his teenager idiocy, said. “Would you, Emma?” 

Emma gave him the finger, scowl deep in place.

As for Regina, well, she was trying not to feel quite so guilty. She was the one that said that Emma should stay there and they had completely forgotten about Granny’s protectiveness. 

She started to notice how her friend’s shoulders tensed and how her eyes were slightly misty. She started to unconsciously play with her necklace and a very subtle, almost imperceptible smile would escape once in a while.

 _Emma was happy_. She didn’t have to think a lot to know why she had that tiny smile on her lips, or why her eyes would get mistier and mistier with every second.

It was incredible how she still hadn’t gotten used to the idea of someone that truly cared about her well-being.

Granny was scolding her because she loved her. 

As soon as she hang up, the little droplets of water fell down her face, and Regina engulfed her into -what she hoped it was- the tightest hug Emma had ever received.

There was a tiny kiss on her cheek and soon, strong arms wrapped around her slim frame.

“Thank you,” She said.

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

 

They were walking back home. 

As always, the gang was very noisy and they’d draw a lot of attention. An old lady even called them _‘this effin’ teenagers...’_

What they didn’t expect, though, was to get the attention of a very little, very dark little ball of fur.

Also known as cat. Or _not-dog_ , as Emma proudly declared.

They didn’t know what to do with the cat, so what they did was: They sat on the sidewalk as started to play with him. 

That was two hours ago.

The gang was long gone and only Emma and Regina were left there.

“Whaddaya want, cat?” Emma said. “Do you want this stick?” She ran to the nearest tree and stole one of the sticks that were lying on the ground. She threw it very far, as excited as the day her former foster parents took her to the park.

“Emma, for the last time, the cat won’t bring it to you. They are not dogs. They don’t want to serve you. They don’t care.” She pulled the kitten to her lap, petting his little head. “C’mere. I’ll show you show to play with him.”

Emma sighed and sat next to Regina, indian style. She rested her head on her buddy’s shoulder and carefully pulled one of the cat’s paws to examn his little fingers, cursing when he pulled his paw back.

“How do you know it’s a he?” Emma said. 

“I don’t,” The brunette replied. “I don’t want to call him it, and he’s too little, it’s hard to know his gender... And I don’t know, he looks like a Mr. Lockwood,” She entwined her fingers with the blonde’s and put their joined hands on the kitten’s back. She started to slowly pet the animal, looking at Emma as if to say, “you see?”

Emma nodded and unlaced their fingers. She started by carefully petting him, enjoying the softness of the dark fur under her fingers and the growing purr; She scratched where the kitten’s tail started and he started to purr loudly.

“Ohhh, ‘Gina, I think he likes me,” Emma exclaimed, her smile competing with the sun’s brightness and winning without even trying. “Do you see that? He’s all ‘Oh, Em-ma, you amazin’ hooman, don’t you evah stop petting meh...’” 

Regina giggled and nodded, scratching the back of his little ear.

“Do you still want me to show you how to play with him?” She asked.

“Nah, we’re fine,” The blonde girl answered while trying to not laugh at the little bites the cat was giving her.

“The thing with cats it’s that you have to be very careful and very gentle, and they’ll judge if you are worthy of their time,” The brunette started, “And you don’t own them. They own you. They choose you. And this little one here, E, I think he choose you.” She smiled and laced their fingers again.

Emma squeezed her fingers and sank her head more deeply onto the other girl’s shoulder.

“Okay. What should we name him?”


	7. Mr. Lockwood Is Actually Alvin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all: I'm so, so sorry for the delay!  
> Writer's block and RL are a pain in the ass.  
> I'm back, though, and I'm ready to make it up to you if you're still interested on the story.  
> Enjoy the longer chapter and please let me know what you think!  
> English isn't my first language and I have no beta, so I apologize for my mistakes.  
> DISCLAIMER: I own nothing.

“Do you think Alvin’s pregnant?”

Regina looked up from her position on the bed, pushing her glasses up and frowning. 

“What?”

Emma picked up their cat and crawled next to Regina. She put the cat on his back and poked his protuberant belly. “I mean, Alvin has such a big belly, R’gina. Look at this. Look at this monstrosity. It can’t be human. Alvin must have at least 10 babies in there. We should probably start calling him Alvina. Her.” Emma scrunched up her face and studied the little black ball of fur. He studied her back and bit her finger.

Apparently, Alvina didn’t like it when she poked her belly.

Emma did it again just to be completely sure, and the cat bit her and held onto Emma’s finger with both of his paws.

The brunette pinched Emma’s side playfully, ignoring the low “ouch!” her action had provoked, and shook her head from side to side. “Of course it isn’t human, Emma. _Alvin_ is a cat. _He_ isn’t pregnant. He has just eaten a lot these past few days. Don’t put this kind of responsibility in the hands of a baby.” 

As though to show his support to Regina, Alvin crawled into Regina’s lap and nuzzled her hand without letting go of the blonde teenager’s eyes. 

“You better not be pregnant. I’d feel sorry for your kids because you’re a dick, Alvin.” She pointed a warning finger at him. “We are no longer cuddle buddies.”

Regina laughed and leaned in to plant a kiss to her buddy’s cheek. When Emma blushed and tried to hide her smile by looking everywhere but at Regina, Regina kissed her cheek again and pressed Alvin tighter to her chest.

“We’re still bat-buddies,” She informed Regina. “Not when you’re with that traitorous ball of fur, though.”

Ruby chose that moment to burst in.

“Guys, have you seen-“ She cut off her sentence when she saw what she was looking for cradled in Regina’s arms, being thoroughly cuddled, and Emma folding her long legs under her while as she switched channels on the TV.

“Oh, oh! Emma, Halle Berry, leave it there!” Ruby shouted, running to stand next to Regina.

“This movie is awful,” Regina complained. “I honestly don’t know how it could be worse. It’s impossible. It reached the bad limits.”

Emma nodded her agreement and switched channels again, earning a hard stare from Ruby. “She’s freaking gorgeous but the movie is just...” 

She shuddered violently to prove her point. The curly-haired brunette laughed beautifully and bit her lip as she looked at Emma.

Emma grinned and blushed furiously, mouthing “What?” as she looked for the answer in Regina’s eyes.

Regina shook her head from side to side, still smiling, and concentrated her attention on Alvin.

Ruby watched them and arched an eyebrow before stealing the remote control from a goofy-smiling Emma.

“Mowgli!” Emma shouted excitedly, stealing the remote control back. She got comfortable on her bed and clutched her pillow tight to her chest.

The brunette by her side nudged Emma curiously and said, “Alvin kind of looks like Bagheera, right?” She made the cat stand on his paws and started to make him walk, holding him by his upper body.

Emma took her eyes off the screen for a second and chuckled. “He does!” 

“You’ve got to be brave, like Baloo was,” Regina said with an exaggeratedly pompous voice, making the cat gesticulate with his free paws. 

Emma gave a loud fake gasp and clutched her hand to her chest. “You... you don't mean...” She sobbed. “Oh, no. Baloo...”

Her bat-buddy turned the cat to her and made him sit down while still gesticulating. “I know how you feel. But you must remember, Mowgli,” She made Alvin pat Emma’s hand sympathetically, “Greater love hath no one than he who lays down his life for his friend...” 

“You two are fucking ridiculous,” Ruby said. “I’m outta here, nerds. Give me Alvin, will you? Granny wants to give him a bath.”

Then she smiled wolfishly, still standing next to Regina and holding her hands in front of her body. She winked at Alvin as her fingers twitched as though she couldn’t wait to get her hands on him.

The cat looked up suspiciously as if he knew Ruby was up to no good. Regina mimicked his expression.

“Don’t worry, ‘Gina,” Emma murmured, scooting closer to the brunette. “It’s not really a bath, she only cleans him up a bit with a wet cloth while he makes a lot of drama... He actually likes it, he just doesn’t like Ruby.” She explained.

“Why doesn’t he like Ruby?”

“I have no idea. Since he got here they can’t stay in the same room, ‘cause Alvin gets all twitchy and keeps eyeing Ruby weirdly like she wants to bite him under the full moon or something. He doesn’t like Gran either, and she says she feels the same for him, but I’ve seen her kissing the top of his head more than once. She calls him Blacky, it’s so weird.”

Regina covered her mouth with her hand to muffle her laughter and Alvin looked up at her pleadingly.

The older brunette cautiously handed the cat to Ruby and said, “You take good care of our child, Ruby,” She pointed a warning finger at her. “If he comes home with one scratch...”

The blonde nodded her agreement and rested her head on her buddy’s shoulder, feeling arms snake around her slim form. “We’ll end you.”

Ruby rolled her eyes at them and got out of the room with the cat spitting loudly.

When the door closed, Emma said with an exaggeratedly horrified voice,

“He’s growing up so fast...” 

Regina pretended to press a handkerchief to the corners of her eyes as her chin wobbled. 

Emma laughed loudly then propped herself up on one elbow, “You’re a horrible distressed mother,” She informed her friend very seriously. “You had to say something like, ‘oh Emma, it was only yesterday he was a little bundle wrapped up in my arms...’”

Regina looked down at Emma and presses her lips together, but her eyes were closing more and more with every second with the effort of not laughing, successfully giving her away. Emma broke first, wrapping her arms around her legs and her whole body shaking; then Regina’s muffled laughter turned into a ridiculously loud cackle.

“Idiot!” Regina shouted, pushing Emma off the bed with her feet and laughing even harder when the blonde threw her hair in front of her face and crawled back into the bed making a hissing sound and coming towards Regina.

 

-

 

Emma was getting dizzy.

There were so many people in Granny’s tonight she didn’t stop for a second; when someone left, someone arrived.

She was making three milkshakes at the same time and cursing the Storybrooke University under her breath for bringing her so many problems when someone poked at her shoulder.

“Would you mind calling that brunette over there?” She said, turning around and putting the milkshakes on the respective tables and stopping at another table to get the order.

“I would, actually,” Someone said. She finished getting the order and walked toward the coffee machine, but a person got in her way.

“Excuse me,” said the blonde irritably. “We are a bit packed tonight and I would appreciate it if you’d let me do my job.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa... Calm down, tiger...” 

She finally bothered to look up and saw Neal, her science lab partner, giving her a toothy grin. She rolled her eyes.

“Spill it, I’m busy.” Emma brushed past him and started to work on the coffees as he stood behind her,

“I... I was wondering if you’d like to go with me,” He stuttered. “You know, uh, to the prom and everything.”

She turned her head to look at him and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, Neal. I’m not going, it’s not really my thing.”

She finished the coffees and set to work on delivering the rest of the order.

“I... Why?” said Neal, following her around and resembling a lost puppy. “Come on, Em, it’ll be fun.”

Her costumer asked, “What kind of juices do you have?”

She pointed at the menu and started to list what she remembered, then added, “But we’re out of watermelon, so we only have these.”

Her confused costumer made a disappointed face and studied the menu intently.

“Em, are you even listening to me?” The bearded teenager behind her whined. 

Emma heaved a deep sigh. 

“I can’t go, Neal. I am sorry. Now please, will you excuse me? We’re freaking packed here, you’re slowing me down.”

Her costumer raised his eyebrows at her vocabulary and she gave him a sheepish smile, mumbling a low, “Sorry...”

Another costumer pushed her empty mug at Emma and said very eagerly, “Wonderful coffee, my dear!”

She smiled and threw a “Thank you and come back soon, ma’am!” over her shoulder.

“You’re a bitch, did you know that? I’m doing you a favor by asking you to go with me and that’s how you repay me?”

She turned around with an exasperated look and started to push him toward the exit with a hard eyeroll.

“You’re not worth my time!” He informed her through the glass door, and she nodded, giving him a thumbs up with her free hand. 

“Have a great day, sir!” She replied with a smile.

 

-

 

“Are you guys going?” Mary Margaret asked as the gang sat and got comfortable on their spot. David put an arm around her and pulled her close.

Emma scrunched up her face and leaned against the tree. She hates proms, she hates the atmosphere of horny teenagers wearing fluffy gowns and guys boning every inch of skin they see. And on top of everything, she hates how incredibly offended they looked if you denied their requests to go with you. “To the prom? Nah, bullshit. Not a chance.” 

“Come on, Emma. You should come, we should enjoy our last year,” Ruby said. She opened her Granny’s bag and handed Emma her sandwich, taking one for herself. “Belle and I are definitely going so... You and your wife should go too. Maybe one of you would finally take the first step and everything...” 

Everyone nodded and Emma threw up her hands irritably. 

“Stop calling her that!” She said. She considered throwing her sandwich at Ruby, but she was so _hungry_. She looked around and grabbed a twig she found by her foot, missing the brunette’s head by an inch. Ruby blew her a kiss and chuckled when Emma threw a piece of bread.

“We’re freaking friends, dude,” The blonde replied with as much annoyance as she could muster. “You guys are impossible, honestly. I can’t even have buds anymore.”

Mary Margaret held up her hands and gave Emma that wide-eyed, scared expression. “We’re only joking, Em, relax. It’s just that you two seem to be very close and...” She smiled tentatively, flinching as she waited for Emma’s outburst, “You really look like a couple. A cute couple.”

Ruby’s eyebrows shot up suggestively and she ran her hands through her thigh, dark hair, pulling it in a ponytail. “See? Our Nicholas Sparks lover here ships it. Go for it. Get the girl, Em. You’ve been a couple for so long it’ll be a relief when you actually are... a couple.”

David added, “You really are. You never stop touching each other and you kiss each other all the time. Seriously, Emma, even Mar and I aren’t that close.” 

Emma scoffed with disinterest and then made an incredulous face.

“What the hell? Are you crazy?!” 

The long-haired brunette in front of her shook her head disbelievingly. “Are you seriously that oblivious, Emma? That’s fucking impossible, I have to say this.”

“I’m a bit weirded out whenever they finish each other’s sentences,” David admitted. Mary Margaret giggled, covering her mouth when Emma gave her a dirty look.

Emma was about to give them a piece of her damn mind when Regina and Belle joined them, and she had to continue the conversation in her head just to be prepared if any of them decided to bother her again with unrealistic facts. 

Regina sat down next to her and pressed a kiss to her slightly flushed cheek, an enormous smile stretching on her face. Emma scowled and started to eat her sandwich furiously.

The olive-skinned girl frowned at her and fixed her attention on the gang while they babbled about the prom. 

“Are you going to the prom, Regina?” Ruby asked. She gave Emma a subtle pointed look, a small smirk starting to bloom.

Emma ignored her and started to pick on the grass, adjusting her glasses every once in a while. She had to buy new glasses, this old pair was a bit loose; every time she looked down they tended to slip down the bridge of her nose.

With her free hand she stuffed the rest of her sandwich in her mouth, pretending not to be so interested on the matter at hand.

“I don’t know yet...” The Latina replied somewhat shyly, and Emma instantly knew, she just knew there was something behind it. “I’m still considering it. I have a month to decide, so that’s good.”

“Any requests?” Mary Margaret piped up.

Regina smiled before shrugging noncommittally. Emma’s eyebrows traveled almost impossibly up. _There were invitations?_

 _Of course there were invitations, Emma,_ she reasoned, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling settling in her chest. _She’s gorgeous, of course people would see that eventually..._

But why now? Regina was lonely for most of her years in school, if not all of them. Why the hell would people bother her now that she had the gang? That she had Emma?

_I’m being ridiculous. I should be happy for her. I **am** happy for her._

“It’s really nothing.” Regina waved their curiosity away, trying to look nonchalant. Her ears were now covered in bright red and she was pressing her plump lips together to suppress a grin.

Emma’s frown deepened impossibly more at the flushed girl’s response and she munched on her food even more vigorously, trying not to think too hard about murder as she considered who could possibly be making the brunette blush.

“Come on, Regina,” said Belle with a big smile plastered on her face. 

Everyone’s attention was now on the shy brunette. Emma’s fingers were nervously caving on the mud, the grass long picked, trying to swallow the big lump of food in her mouth.

“Ah, it’s... it’s Robin.” She relented with an even brighter blush colouring her entire face.

The blonde choked on her food and her eyes went as wide as saucers.

Everyone’s attention turned to Emma as she coughed uncontrollably, Regina’s eyes filling with worry as she immediately reached for a bottle of water, handing it to Emma and rubbing soothing circles on her back.

She drank the water to help her swallow the mass of food and after some time she stopped coughing, eyes red and teary, her buddy still rubbing her back carefully. 

“Are you okay?” She whispered. Emma nodded quickly, still trying to catch her breath, and Regina leaned in to press a kiss to her temple. 

“Robin invited you?” She blurted.

Regina frowned again, her mouth opening and closing repeatedly before her brows furrowed deeper and deeper together. “Yes.”

She studied the blonde’s big, sad eyes and searched for an answer for the strange behavior, shaking her head almost imperceptibly. “Wh-?” 

“Oh, that’s, uh, that’s really...-that’s really great. Like um, super good news. Really awesome, R, wow, just... wow... Like, I’m really happy for you, y’know? Perfect... This is...” 

David muttered a ‘ _what the fuck is she doing?_ ’ under his breath, and Emma stopped mid-sentence, blushing furiously. 

“Eh...” She said, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly.

They could have heard a pin drop.

The gang looked at each other incredulously, absorbing Emma’s sudden nervousness and putting the pieces together.

Ruby facepalmed herself and massaged her temples. Honestly, she was so freaking tired of the secondhand embarrassment Emma managed to make her feel. 

The brunette gave her a look that said ‘ _We are talking about this later_ ’ and turned to her lunch.

“So... have you guys heard they cancelled Batwoman?”


End file.
